PART II FARGO, NORTH DAKOTA, The Venue
by gcelq

After 5 ½ hours taxi ride, we arrived at Fargo around 4:30 am. Luckily we didn’t need to travel that far again to the Fargo show coz The Venue was just 5 mins taxi ride from our hotel. Since it was a GA concert, we decided to go to The Venue early around 4:15pm. True enough, when we arrived there, we saw sleeping mats, umbrellas and chairs already cued outside the doors of The Venue. And we saw DC’s fans in Fargo, as well as some of the sweet people we’ve met at the Mitchell concert. Jen was already there, hiding under her umbrella shielding her from the blazing sun, but everybody was just too happy to be there.

The early birds were interviewed by one of the radio stations 105.1. DJs Mia came over, she heard about people flying in to watch the concert and talked with us for a while. Then all of us who were there were invited to the radio stations’ party where they can get special merchandise from the station autographed by Dave of course, free VIP upgrades so they could watch the concert in the top box of the concert hall where they will serve you free drinks. I was thrilled, but I did have a dilemma of choosing between the 2. If we chose to join the party and the VIP upgrade, we will be sitting in the VIP top box, or balcony and a full view of the stage. If we stayed on the line instead, we had a good chance of being in the front row on the floor near the stage coz we were early. All of us were talking it over and everybody agreed that in a David Cook concert, the front row IS the VIP section . So we decided to risk it and stayed on line but the downside is we wouldn’t get the special merchandise or the free drinks.

On the line, we met more and more fans who came in from different towns and states. There were 2 ladies in front of us who drove 10 hours from Kansas City to see David and they were just 2 very kind, very classy and very generous ladies, ever. There were no seats inside so we will be standing throughout the concert, but they offered to let us stand in front of them once we got inside coz they said we wouldn’t see anything if we’ll stand behind them. We were just blown away, coz obviously they arrived there early to get good places but were willing to let us stay in front so we could see. Man, David’s fans are the greatest!

With the help and generosity of our new found friends, we were very close to the stage. The Crash Kings opened up for David, and I gotta say that they won me over from the first song they sang back in Mitchell. They are a great band. Thanks David for introducing them to us. Dave and The Anthemic were just fantastic. The band just grew bolder and edgier since they first started playing together. I definitely feel that thumping vibrations on my chest that I get to expect at my rock concerts. What I like about their music is that they know how to build up the tension. I couldn’t quite describe it. It’s like at the start they give you a false sense of security and calmness then they smack you round the head, knocking you down with smashing drums, thundering voice, and prolonging the agony with those killer guitar riffs. The best example is Mr. Sensitive. They are just awesome. The band is like a well oiled machine. They live up to their name, The Anthemic.

So before I get lost with the band, we do have a mission to accomplish in this trip too. I have a message to deliver to him from the Cookistas in Manila. It was news about Bar-Ba-Sol being #1 in Manila radio station 99.5 RT And for weeks now, BBS has been charting in their weekly RT30, #2 in fact. It finally bumped the Black Eyed Peas’ I Got A Feeling from the #1 spot (Dave, if your reading this, I got Dave-Struck that time) #3 is Cobra Starship & Leighton Meester-Good Girls Go Bad; #4 The Killers-The World We Live In; #5 Kelly Clarkson-Already Gone. BarBaSol has been #1 for two weeks now. So I made a sign saying so and hope against hope that he would see it. Here’s the pic of the sign.

I also made other signs. The Cookistas and I came up with several ideas but we wanted it in a way that when he reads it, he knows it’s from Manila. So we came up with the Balut sign.

And for the record: DAVID, when I made this sign, we really thought you ate some, didn’t know you chickened out the last second, you pansy Anyway, it’s no big deal coz actually not all of us in the group(or even the country) could eat them (I know we’re hypocrites ) but it’s our way of initiating foreign friends in our country. It’s one of the 10 most disgusting food in the world and it was given as a food challenge in one episode of Fear Factor, go figure. It’s supposed to be a sign of endearment to offer it to guests. (Don’t be grossed out but I am very fond of them balut) But what amazed us Filipinos was during his stay in our country, he actually asked to sample a bit of it, and it was unheard of in our country. And for that we salute you Dave, even if you’re a pansy harhar and yes he was right about it being an aphrodisiac, and yes, I also think he doesn’t need it. (Do what you want with this statement fangirls)

I also made one saying “Flew 10,000 miles to see David Cook @Cookistas” at the back of the Bar-Ba-Sol sign, which was the first sign I flashed at David. I was careful to raise the sign only when he’s looking our way or when he’s not singing as not to block those people at the back. Once he acknowledges it, which he did, I brought it down then put it up again when he’s looking, now things got a little exciting when he noticed the sign (at 2:14) went to our side of the stage during IDIFY and looked at the sign and mouthed a question which I don’t know what (at 2:24) so I just smiled at him. (If he said “by force” then I’ll be laughing ) (vid by fsdwx)

I Did It For You

here's some screencaps when he saw the sign

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• Before KOTN, I was flashing the balut sign now. That’s when he had the banter (vid by quamquilter) Kiss On The Neck

I knew I had to flash the BBS sign when he started playing BBS, I never would have dreamed that he did what he did next, when he came up to our side of the stage again and reached out for the sign and he placed it against Kyle’s mini-stage at the center of the big stage. (vids by fsdwx)

Bar-Ba-Sol

here are some screencaps of that vid









• It’s like the 16hours plus 5 ½ hours of travel never happened. I was there in a DC concert listening to great music while being acknowledged by the artist whom we came all the way there to see. Not too many people do that anymore. Like your friends who went out of their way to see you. Little gestures of recognition means a lot to the person being recognized. And actually, that was the main reason why it was so important for us to send the message to David and The Anthemic, because these guys, work their ****s off, sleep in a bus, going from one place to another, away from the comfort of their homes for months, conceptualize, practice, just to put on a spanking good show night after night for their audience. It was just a little sign from us, a message, that we do appreciate them too and the work they were putting in their shows and in their music; That among the artists out there, we take that simple gesture to vote for his songs, make the sign and let David see it to recognize and honor him in particular The same way that David, having millions of fans in the world, he made that simple gesture of just taking the sign to recognize little ol’ us

  So after jumping up and down, straining my ankle shattering the eardrums of the ones around me by my screaming, the show went on, and during the Encore when the band was again called back by the tumultuous applause of the crowd, Dave said “thank you, for the record it’s only you who can do that so thank you” He kept the sign tho but he gave me something else…

NEXT: Part III At The Buses in Fargo…

back to Part I